The COVID-19 Pandemic and Mathematics at JNU

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Friday the 13th, March 2020, an unforgettable day. Just as I was finishing a lecture for our very first batch of MSc (Mathematics) students at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), one of my colleagues came and announced that classes have been suspended until March 31 due to the COVID-19 crisis. I was happy to have finished teaching my class before the announcement came, but it was unsettling. Students were quite confused whether to stay on campus or go home; most of them decided to go home and requested us to send them assignments during this three-week period. I told them to revise some of the basic materials, since the Measure Theory course that I was teaching was quite new and unfamiliar to them. At that point, we didn’t realize how long it would be. It seemed like a mid-semester break, which would have been appreciated by all the students since they had had virtually no winter break in December.

 

The immediate impact

I thought I would utilize this break to work with my PhD students, both of who are in the sixth year. They both needed to submit their theses by the end of June 2020, but one of them had already gone home to visit his parents and returned only the following week. Soon after, the Delhi government announced closing all educational institutions on March 19, and then the JNU administration asked students to vacate their hostels within 48 hours. Admittedly it was for their own good, but our students were worried: they couldn’t get train tickets so quickly and were also concerned about the risk of catching COVID-19 in crowded trains and buses. Then on March 24th, the nationwide lockdown until April 14 was announced. It still seemed like just a two week extension of what JNU had already announced, and at that time, about 10 to 12 percent of the students (including overseas students) were still on campus.

 

As it happens, one of my PhD students is from a remote place in Rajasthan and the other lives in Munirka, across from the main gate of JNU. At this stage in their research, we had had frequent one-on-one discussions at the blackboard – this is an absolute must for research in mathematics. Neither of the students has good internet connectivity where they live, and this limits their access to online resources. We manage some discussion over phone, WhatsApp or email, but this is no substitute for face-to-face discussion. They also need advice about their synopses, the lay-out of chapters and also to continue research, for which online meetings do not work well.

 

The deadlines for thesis submission have been extended recently by UGC and JNU, but there has been no announcement yet as to whether hostel accommodation and financial support will also be provided. This is an extremely important requirement for our students: not only do they need a fellowship to survive, but they also provide support for their families. As events keep unfolding, it is clear that they are likely to lose a year in terms of finding a job; everything seems to have come to a standstill. Another student at JNU working with one of my colleagues is waiting since late March to have his PhD thesis defence. Holding it online is not an option since he has very poor internet connection at his home.

 

As for the Masters students, this was just their second semester at JNU. Coming from very varied backgrounds, they have found it difficult to learn without lectures, through material provided in Google Classroom. Some of the students are from rural backgrounds and from small towns where the internet connectivity is, as mentioned, not good, and in some cases even a steady supply of electric power is not available.

 

In part this is due to the fact that JNU has always encouraged students from less developed areas of India to come for higher education. This has been done through a combination of a low fee structure and a system of counting for social and economic deprivation in the entrance examinations. Across the country, districts where the development indices are below the national average have been identified and a specific number of so-called deprivation points are awarded to students who have studied for their previous degrees in such districts. It is noteworthy to add that women students are awarded additional deprivation points that are added to the students’ entrance exam score to bring them at par with those who have had better opportunities/facilities in terms of education. Due to these encouraging steps, JNU has on an average more students hailing from less developed regions, compared to other urban universities/institutions. (Unfortunately, students applying for MPhil and PhD programmes do not get the benefit of deprivation points from 2017 onwards).

 

Thus for many of our students, the condition at home may not be suitable for studies. The learning process becomes discriminatory in effect since in a classroom at the University all have more or less equal access. More opportunities to learn are available to those with good internet connection and other facilities. In a class, one can gauge from the expression on the students’ faces whether they have understood a particular concept or not. Students can also ask about their difficulties there and then or can come to my office later and ask for clarification, and they have been doing so. However, they do not seem as enthusiastic or comfortable asking me over email or in Google Classroom. Some of them seem to have forgotten what was taught before the lockdown; it could be due to other pressing demands on them in this unusual situation, or the environment may not be conducive to study. This is very surprising as I know that most of these students are sincere and had even applied for summer internships.

 

Now the emphasis is more on finishing the syllabus and conducting exams, regardless of whether the students learn or not. The present situation leaves me with the feeling that somehow we are failing as teachers – we are short-changing our students. I feel responsible and want to teach our students effectively, but now this seems a distant goal. Regardless of calibre, I feel our students will suffer in the long run.

 

The Future

During the first lockdown period, I kept counting days and thinking that even if it would stretch till the end of April, we could teach in a classroom in May and part of June and then conduct exams in June. Now it is past mid-May and the uncertainty over everything (we are currently in the fourth lockdown period) seems to be affecting students and faculty alike. The lockdown wall keeps shifting like a mirage.

 

The effect of this pandemic will also be felt on next year’s new admissions. We are still under the lockdown and the deadline for some of the entrance exams applications are imminent, including my own university’s. How would students who do not have internet connectivity apply now? The terminal students may even lose a year of study if they cannot apply. This will bring more divide between rural versus urban and poor versus rich. Education should be for all, yet we do not even pay attention to this ‘minor’ problem. It is as if we simply have to fill the admission quota and we forget the humans behind it.

 

On a personal front, I am using this opportunity to finish some pending research work. I am also catching up on reading both math and fiction. But for how long? I am afraid that this may pull us all down and I am worried about the future. For a mathematician, discussing ideas in person using a blackboard is very important, not to mention holding a book or attending a seminar in person, and something seems to be amiss without these elements of an academic life. Now we are all attending webinars but it is just not the same, neither for the speaker nor for the audience. Mathematics education is likely to suffer greatly if it is not delivered in person. It is simply impossible to communicate some of the ideas via a purely online mode.

 

A major fallout of this pandemic is that we had to suspend all activities of the Indian Women and Mathematics (IWM). These are initiatives that encourage young women to take up a teaching and research career in mathematics. IWM activities are sponsored and supported by the National Board of Higher Mathematics (NBHM) of the Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India, and the Committee for Women in Mathematics (CWM) of the International Mathematical Union (IMU). As a part of IWM activities, there are regional workshops and popular lectures by distinguished women mathematicians from India and abroad, which largely took place in non-metro cities. These occasions are a rare experience for young students and teachers alike at these places where seminars and interactions with mathematicians from outside are non-existent otherwise (see here for more details). An IWM regional workshop had been planned this July in Chhattisgarh (at IIT Bhilai) for the benefit of students from Chattisgarh and neighbouring states. We had also planned an IWM annual conference in Karnataka (at IIT Dharwad). Both these activities had to be indefinitely postponed. There are other proposals to have workshops in Rajasthan and Kerala later in the year, which are on hold. It is not clear when these IWM activities can resume. This break creates a vacuum in academic life and is likely to have long-term repercussions.

 

Although it has been said that we need to adjust to the new normal, I am worried for the next generation. As it is, our young urban population has screen-addiction that contributes to many of them lacking in social skills. Now we are asking them to observe social distancing and to communicate online and this can only encourage screen-addiction! I am afraid that this will diminish real communication and social skills further, reducing tolerance in general.

 

With the additional effect of the economic depression, the higher education budget, which had already seen a cut in recent times, will be effectively reduced further. This will have a major impact on the university education in India, which caters to almost all of the student community, barring a few. Unfortunately, the system is such that it pours much more money into those elite institutions which cater to a minuscule proportion of students. A place like JNU, which is accessible to urban and rural students alike, where the class divide is less, where students from a humble background can dream of higher education, saw a major upheaval towards the end of 2019 due to a significant fee hike, and it could become inaccessible for some of the students who could benefit earlier. This is despite the fact that the budget of such a university to support students is minuscule compared to one of those institutions where admittedly students pay higher fees but also get much more subsidy as the actual cost of their programs is far higher.

 

The right to education, especially higher education, already depends on numerous social and economic factors, The COVID crisis will widen the gap between the haves and the have-nots. The cries of underprivileged students will be drowned in the general tumult of the economic depression, as it is with the cries of the migrant population in the current crisis.

 

Riddhi Shah is a Professor of Mathematics at the School of Physical Sciences Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Views expressed are personal.

 

This article is part of a series called New Directions in Higher Education in India after COVID-19. The remaining articles of the series can be found here.

COVID-19 Risks Deepening Existing Disparities in Indian Educational Institutions

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Each University has a role in nation building. I say this from the point of view of the two central universities I previously worked in, the University of Hyderabad (HCU) and Mizoram University (MZU), as well as my present institution, the Central University of Tamil Nadu (CUTN).

 

  • HCU has grown in academic stature across disciplines in less than fifty years while catering to the needs of many economically and socially underprivileged students.
  • MZU had recruited its first batch of permanent faculty in Physics in 2007; I was one of them. Most of our students then were first generation graduates, many being first generation literates. Today, it is heartening to see some of them as post-doctoral fellows in eminent institutes abroad and in India including TIFR and SINP. Some of our studentsare themselves teachers now, and they have introduced pedagogical concepts learnt at the university to their students preparing them for a bright future. Today MZU stands in the top 100 universities of the country.
  • CUTN was established in 2009 and has since catered to a majority of women students, many of whom are the first generation of female post-graduates from their families. I am sure that CUTN too will contribute significantly to all spheres of the society in due course of time.

 

Between the periods at MZU and CUTN, I have noticed a steady decline in infrastructural support to newer universities. Established universities are able to tide over annual financial deficits through their corpus funds, funds that newer universities lack. This translates to the latter being in a perpetual state of financial and infrastructural distress. The nominal funds allocated to faculty to attend seminars and workshops are inadequate to attend even one out of state event, which translates to the inability to form academic networks and collaborations. Furthermore, the annual funds allocated to these universities are not enough for self-sufficient research facilities such as X-ray diffraction, electron microscopy etc., in the same institute for research in materials science or of high-end computational facilities for research based on modelling and simulation. Faculty have to rely on common facilities at other institutes that charge a fee, and often rely on the goodwill of friends to tide over the associated difficulties. There are time-delays in obtaining the data, thus leading to fewer publications. This in turn reduces the ability of the individual faculty to get funded projects and the eligibility of the university for larger fund allocation in the next financial cycle, thus leading to a downward spiral of research and academic activities.

 

The COVID-19 lockdown happened in the midst of this already precarious situation.  With research scholars confined to their homes with inadequate internet facilities, research has come to a near halt. This is worse for experimental research, where access to laboratories is essential and the equipment is normally maintained by the scholars. Currently, we hope that there will be no damage to equipment due to our inability to physically access and maintain them and that we will be able to restart research when the lockdown lifts. Even a minor repair will cost us a lot.

 

Measures such as physical distancing and staggered workplaces have been suggested as methods to return to classroom teaching. This presupposes the existence of additional resources which is far from the ground reality. It would be near impossible to maintain physical distancing in classrooms when we have just enough furniture for all students and in laboratories where they are already sharing equipment.  Staggered theory and laboratory classes would mean more batches of students, thus requiring more faculty and more technical manpower for laboratories. This can be achieved only through policy changes in the number of sanctioned posts per department.

 

Lockdown due to COVID-19 necessitated online teaching for the rest of the semester and this seems to be the imminent solution for the coming year(s). Online instruction comes with its own problems. We now realize that there is a huge digital divide in the student body. Only a small number of our students have personal laptops and broadband internet connections while some students, especially those from rural areas, have neither the devices nor the connectivity. This makes long term online teaching an unimplementable strategy. When the students are at the university, the digital divide can be bridged through use of common facilities. Further, even if the students were to participate in online learning from home despite the digital divide, they may not have access to quiet and distraction free surroundings.

 

If the teaching has to continue fully online, strategies such as providing laptops and internet dongles to needy students can be thought of. Every university can also think of a central tele-conferencing facility for interactions of faculty with those students who do not have access to the internet. If the classes are to resume on campus, it may be necessary to re-frame the syllabus to allow for partial online teaching. In a mixed mode strategy, half the “contact” hours can be taught online,  the remaining being a staggered classroom teaching.

 

SWAYAM and NPTEL are seen as the ideal platforms for online learning, but much of the content on these platforms run asynchronously, i. e. with pre-recorded videos that the students watch at their leisure. This process deprives the students of the benefit of live interactions and feedback from the teacher. Viewing of study material created for a general audience works only for self-learners. One needs to remember that not all students are equipped to be self-learners and most of them report that they benefit from a teacher. The teaching material has to be tailored by the concerned faculty to ensure individual attention to their own students, for which they should be aware of the pedagogical difference of online teaching-learning from that in a classroom. A video recording of a lecture or uploading presentations does not sufficiently convey the material to the student. Issues specific to online teaching (such as working without facial cues from students and readability by text readers for the visually challenged, to give just two examples) also need to be addressed.

 

Then there are issues relating to examining students online. The composition of online exam questions is not always pedagogically sound. Multiple choice questions, which are regularly used with large student strengths, do not adequately test subject understanding. Also, not all universities have adequate common computer centers where proctored online exams can be conducted with suitable precautions. Since the credibility of examinations cannot be compromised, it is necessary to think of more creative solutions.

 

Making teaching material suitable for online platforms needs resources such as recording facilities, software and hardware – resources that are currently available only in few institutes. The faculty need the time to adapt to all these changes. Now would  be the ideal time to bring back the retired faculty members into the fold. Many of them have decades of invaluable experience, are still physically active and might be happy to contribute to the issue of teaching students during this crisis period. Their presence, either in person or through online interactive classes, will be comforting and beneficial to the students. It will give the faculty members the much-needed support and time to adapt to the changing scenario.

 

As at many universities across the world, the lockdown has left my students at CUTN anxious and stressed about the future. We have been able to allay their fears regarding course completion for this semester, but are unable to address the reality of lost opportunities related to jobs and higher education in India or abroad. If we are to reassure the younger generation that all hope is not lost for their future, it will be necessary to strengthen the academic system to its very last branches, not letting the pre-existing disparities grow in this crisis period.

 

V Madhurima is a Professor of Physics at Central University of Tamil Nadu, Thiruvarur. Views expressed are personal.

 

This article is part of a series called New Directions in Higher Education in India after COVID-19. The remaining articles of the series can be found here.

 

Update (25-05-2020): The year of establishment of CUTN was wrongly mentioned as 2012. This factual error has now been corrected.

COVID – 19 and Learning History

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“…that people and governments never have learned anything from history, or acted on principles deduced from it….” – G.W.F. Hegel

 

History has testimonies of mass destructions and calamities like wars, genocides, epidemics, and natural disasters that had caused annihilation to humankind. These occurrences have altered the course of history, like the Bubonic plague that is believed to have paved the way for the rise of Renaissance in Europe. COVID-19 and its aftermath will be one such experience that will alter the lives of common man and the world order in all ways.

 

On March 11th, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 as Pandemic with 118,000 cases in 114 countries. It soared and as on 10 May, 2020 the virus has affected nearly 4,152,878 people and killed 282,663 worldwide. With United States leading the world with most number of affected cases and deaths, the virus has spread to 212 countries.

Ring-a-ring o’roses

A pocket full of posies

A-tishoo! A-tishoo!

We all fall down.

 

Going down History with COVID -19

COVID-19 is not the first nor will be the last pandemic. Epidemics and pandemics are not new in history. This famous kindergarten rhyme cited above is related to the Great Plague of England in 1665. Likewise some of the deadliest pandemics were the Plague of Justinian (541-542 A.D.), Bubonic plague (1347-51 A.D.), Spanish Flu (1918-19), AIDS (ongoing), SARS (2002-03), Swine Flu (2009-10), Ebola (2013) etc. COVID – 19, in spite of having low fatality rate is a way different from the above mentioned pandemics. In the age of advance scientific and technological advancement, this virus has led to thousands of death; locked down billions of people to their homes across the globe; closed down educational and religious institutions; stopped global economic activity; and causing a state of uncertainty bringing the greatest nations and the proud superior beings to its knees.

 

Coping with COVID-19 Lockdown

COVID-19 has completely paralyzed the educational institutions across the globe. As India continues to see a surge in cases of COVID-19, the lockdown 4.0 was declared on 12 May. Since 25 March, all the schools, colleges, universities and other research institutions have been shut. The board exams, semester exams, university exams and all the entrance exams have been rescheduled. Technology played a major role as both the teachers and the students went online for learning. Engaging the students through Google classroom, Google Duo, Zoom, etc., the teachers were able to keep the learning process active during the lockdown. Teaching, learning, and assessment of the students online was a new experiment to many institutions in India. Access to online books, digital libraries, Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) were a boon in the learning process to both the students and the teachers. What was at the same time missing was the classroom atmosphere, an inter-personal relationship, a bonding of student and teacher friendship with which I have grown up in my institution and which I also share with my students.

 

Can online teaching be effective for a discipline like History?

History is a conventional discipline and not everyone gets interested to study it. In Indian scenario, it is not a glamorous discipline.  It is a vast discipline that is tangled with all disciplines under the sun. It is not a story as many think that can be narrated. It is a necessary that the learner is made to connect the past with the present and derive lessons for the future. The teacher who teaches History needs to be passionate about both teaching and history, and should ignite a learner effectively. Technology does give an inter-personal interactive option but yet, there are apprehensions and it can never match a classroom interaction.

 

How affordable is online classes for students?

Affording gadgets and technology is definitely a luxury to a considerable number of students who opt for History as their major in India. When the first year undergraduate class of 80 was asked to join the Google classroom, it was found that nearly 15 students do not even possess a basic mobile and nearly three-fourth of the class don’t have a laptop or desktop. They used the facilities provided by the college and help from their friends to submit their online assignments. It is a challenge to bring in such students into the educational technology fold. The inclusiveness of a class disappears, the time we start using technology and a section of the class is excluded due to lack of the same. The immediate shift to technology for the teaching-learning process during the lockdown was not easy for majority of the educational institutions that has always relied on the conventional methods of classroom instructions. The post COVID-19 India for sure will face a major economic challenge and that may even result in the dropping off of students from educational institutions, in such a scenario, what will be important is to keep the students by providing basic facilities rather than making it more complicated and difficult for them.

 

How equipped are teachers?

Teaching is a dynamic enterprise. Prepare out each class, build on past successes, learn from failures, incorporate new ideas, and adapt the content and structure to each group of students is a mammoth task. But many teachers in the higher education are not equipped enough to incorporate technology effectively in the teaching-learning process. They need to possess technical knowledge, good organisational skills and also empathy with students for effective handling of online classes. Many faculty members are unsure about the effectiveness of online teaching and are also hesitant to venture into the world of technology.

 

How Faculty research and learning is affected?

Researchers, especially the women researchers did get affected due to the lockdown. The Guardian (12 May, 2020) reported that research by women plummeted during lockdown as women academics were barely coping with childcare and work whereas articles from men increased. Historical research is basically dependent on the source material collected from Archives and other Record Offices, and libraries, but they couldn’t be used during the lockdown. Many of the institutions started informative webinars to keep the research and the inquisitive mind active during the lockdown. It is a very impressive and innovative attempt to rope in experts across the country and present a talk or have a workshop and provide e-certificates. This proves that humankind will always find a way to survive.

 

MOOCs cater to the needs of every individual who has the thirst for learning something new. It is a revolution that heralded in higher education since 2012 prompting New York Times to declare 2012 as the Year of MOOC. In India, it is in slow pace but still it is the new mantra with the launching of the Swayam portal in 2017. Conventional disciplines like History don’t find ample space in the MOOCs. EDX for example has nearly 20 courses under the heading History which are mostly on China, Jews, USA and Japan. They also have courses related to history like art history, religions like Buddhism, Sikhism, World History and Western Civilization. The same is with Khan Academy which has courses on World history and US history. Coursera is much better as it has courses on Egyptology, Holocaust, Modern World, US history, Greeks and Romans. There are no courses for history in the India-based Swayam portal. Harvard University’s online courses are on China. The Department for Continuing Education of University of Oxford has online history courses that is predominantly British history. Thus, to learn Oriental history (excluding Chinese history) especially Indian History, there are no MOOCs.

 

Suggestions 

India needs a multi-pronged strategy to build an inclusive resilient Indian education system. There are various e-learning platforms offering different courses with different methodology, assessment parameters and certification but what is required is a unified learning system. Before attempting to go digital, the Government and institutions should ensure that every student is equipped enough. The providing of Aakash – a low-cost tablet computer launched on 5 October, 2011, by the Government of India as part of an initiative to link 25,000 colleges and 400 universities in an e-learning program should have been improvised. The providing of the free laptops for the school and college students in the state of Tamil Nadu is a step that definitely benefited the marginalized. Teachers also need to be computer literate and adopt to technology.

 

Unlike what Hegel says, may the world and India, in the time of this pandemic, learn a lesson from its shortcomings and act upon the lessons deduced from it.

 

Marilyn Gracey Augustine is Assistant Professor at the Department of History, Madras Christian College. Views expressed are personal.

 

This article is part of a series called New Directions in Higher Education in India after COVID-19. The remaining articles of the series can be found here.

Article Series: Ethical Responsibilities of Academicians

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What is the purpose of doing academics? What ought to be the ethical values which guide teaching, research, supervision and mentoring? How is academics relevant (or, how can it be relevant) in contemporary socio-economic, socio-political and cultural contexts? What is the ‘vocation’ of a teacher/researcher in contemporary times? Can we think about reorganizing and restructuring academics so as to make it more inclusive, democratic and ethically committed?

Here are a series of articles on the topic that were received from our readers in response to the above questions.

  1. Ethical duties and responsibilities of academicians in a patriarchal and casteist Society by Tejal Barkhade
  2. Do the dark undemocratic paths pave the real future of science academia by Preeti Umarao
  3. The cost-benefits of raising ethical issues by Milind Watve
  4. Academician: a hope for a brighter future by Shambhavi Naik
  5. Undergraduate research, an approach to create sustained academic curiosity by Uthpala Ramprasad
  6. The Socratic oath of an academic by KP Mohanan
  7. Another Socratic oath by Tara Mohanan

The Impact of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 on the Education Sector in India

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Introduction

The coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 causes a deadly disease, COVID-19  with a fatality rate between 2-3%. It has created havoc as it has engulfed the whole world, being declared a pandemic by the WHO. Lockdowns that have been imposed in almost all countries to save the citizens from the lethal infection have taken a toll, shattering economies. The disease has not spared even the advanced European countries, let alone the backward African countries and the developing Asian countries. The first and foremost job in the hands of the governments is not to save their people from the infection by imposing lockdown and social distancing only, but also to cope with the lockdown  to save the economies. The Indian Government is no exception. The Indian economy was already passing through a recession and experts were saying that the economy was heading towards depression even before the advent of the corona virus. COVID-19 has dealt a severe blow on the economy. It will be difficult to come out of this situation and depression once the lockdown is over.

Against the backdrop of such a pandemic, it is obvious that the education sector will suffer in all the countries like many other sectors. The Indian education system has been badly affected by the entry of the disease and also because of social distancing measures that were taken to prevent the spread of the disease. The ultimate act on the part of the Central government has been to impose a lockdown on the entire country.

 

Impact of Corona Virus on Education

Coping up

Even before the lockdown was enforced in the 3rd week of March, 2020, the state governments in their individual capacities declared the schools and colleges and the other educational institutions closed for a certain period of time from the middle of March. The closure was extended for some more time and finally the lockdown was declared. Thus the education system has been hampered for the last one and a half months. This is about regular classes in the educational institutions. Just before the full lockdown, international flights were banned from leaving and entering the country, thereby restricting people from going abroad to attend scheduled international seminars, workshops and also from visiting foreign universities for taking and giving classes and lectures etc. This was followed by cancellation of the national and domestic flights also thus resulting into people not being able to visit the places for educational purpose even inside the country. Finally with the lockdown, the trains also stopped running and thus the scheduled seminars etc had to be cancelled in all the stages, like, national, state and regional, and even local. Not only have seminars been cancelled, even visiting educational institutes for other purposes had to be postponed, for example, taking viva for thesis, projects etc and for other administrative purposes.

With the full lockdown being imposed in the country, the education sector initially came to a standstill. This is an unprecedented and unfamiliar situation, and nobody still knows when the situation will be normal. It is imperative that the lifting of lockdown should obviously not take place in one go, but gradually, as otherwise the very purpose of the imposition of lockdown will be defeated with the spreading of the disease again. It is also true that unless the social distancing measures are removed, bringing back normalcy will be difficult. It is a known fact that the educational institutions are most vulnerable for the spread of the disease due to the mass gathering in the classrooms. Therefore unless, the infection is totally eradicated from the states, it is difficult to bring back the students to the schools, colleges, universities and other educational institutions. Resuming normal classes in classrooms therefore seems a distant dream at this time.

Gradually the system is getting accustomed to the situation. Distance classes, using various online platforms, have been started in many institutions. It is, however, difficult to say at this moment, how far it has been successful, especially when one is situated in an urban areas and has the advantage of teaching an elite class. As a teacher of one of the elite (and oldest) Universities of the country, I have the advantage of teaching an elite subject predominantly to urban students, where all students have smartphones although all of them may not have desktops and/or laptops. Even the few semi-urban and/or rural students in my class are used to having online chats on their smartphones. Since the hostels are closed now many students have gone back to their homes, some in rural areas where they cannot connect, mainly due to poor internet connectivity in their hometowns. The courses I teach are non-laboratory based, and are largely non-mathematical, so I am able to continue with online classes.

The situation is very different when one looks at rural colleges and universities. Many students in rural areas may not have access to smartphones or computers. Even if they do, the net connectivity may not be as high as in urban areas. In any case, many students of the most elite institutions, the IITs, are not able to have access to online classes from their homes due to these reasons. Therefore some if not all of the universities, and some of the colleges have started online classes. The same can be said about other higher educational institutions, be they governmental, government-aided or autonomous.  Private institutions normally draw students from affluent urban classes, and hence do not face problems in dealing with this unprecedented situation.

The school education system portrays a dismal picture. There are many kinds of schools in the country: government, government-aided, private schools run by missionaries as well as those run by public and private trusts. There are also elite “public schools” and innumerable village level elementary schools under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan scheme, the latter catering to the below-poverty-level sections of society.  A majority of children (by number) attend village elementary and primary schools. Even in the urban areas, many such primary schools give classes to the poorer sections; most slum children attend these schools. In addition to the economic divide and the rural-urban divide there is a language divide as well.  Vernacular medium schools largely (though with exceptions) cater to the poor while English medium schools cater to other sections of the society. Here again comes the aspect of the digital divide: most poor students do not have access to smartphones, and even if they do, the net connectivity is poor and content is often not available in vernacular languages. This gives rise to discrimination in access to education.

Today many schools in urban areas are having online classes, while the majority of rural schools do not. Very young children are not able to learn through online processes as they can neither handle computers nor mobile phones. In many households, there is no computer, and in many, children are not allowed smartphones as well. Both these problems exist regardless of class. Therefore, the digital divide at the school level leads to a gap between the haves and have-nots.

Examinations have either been postponed or cancelled. Cancelling intermediate semesters or class annual exams or Class XI board exams will only weaken the foundations of the students. While it is true that online examinations are not possible at this time given the existing infrastructure in the country, already cancelling the exams kills the impetus of learning. The authorities could have waited for the lockdown to end before announcing such a drastic decision.

India is a vast country with many complexities. The economic divide, the rural-urban divide and the resulting digital divide all have played an important role. The overall response of the country to the pandemic has thus been very mixed in the education sector.

 

The future

Though the coronavirus entered India in the month of January, it was not until March that the seriousness of the situation was felt. For one and a half months now the education system has been   in the doldrums. In the meantime the severe economic effects of the lockdown have begun to be felt and there have been consequent social changes. No one knows at present, what the ultimate effect of this economic harshness t will be once the lockdown is over. The threat looms large particularly over low-income families. Many students belonging to low income families may not be in a position to  continue with their education due to a loss of income, especially those in the informal and unorganized sectors.  This may especially be true for science and other technical education. At the same time, guest teachers and ad hoc or para teachers in private educational institutes may lose their jobs as well.

So far not much political change has been seen as a result of the pandemic. Social changes may emerge due to people staying at homes day after day, forced to spend time within small families and in limited space. The strain induced by the lockdown could have long-term effects, but how this will affect the higher education system is hard to predict right now. There is some evidence that domestic violence has increased, and there may be some effects on students’ education, especially if families break-up as a result of the lockdown. In any case, the resulting economic changes are sure to affect the higher education system indirectly.

 

Role of Technology

Technology ought not to play a bigger role in teaching of economics in the post-corona period. It has already been mentioned how the digital divide plays an important role; therefore in order to reach all students, classroom teaching is the best option. This is especially true for laboratory-based subjects. While humanities related subjects may be taught online, the teaching will not reach all students. (Lab-based practical classes cannot be held online as it is not possible to set up labs at homes, but that is another story.) My subject, economics, has aspects of both humanities and science, requiring both lectures as well as (computer-based) practical work. The practical part of the course is difficult to conduct online since all students may not own computers and in addition, we need proprietary software etc. For courses with mathematics it is difficult to give instruction online as well.

Online classes are not capable of substituting classroom lectures. The former is very seldom able to generate the interaction that is needed in a class. Moreover, the teachers’ body language, which is a part and parcel of the classroom lectures and is imperative for their success, is also missing in online classes. The use of technology will not only lead to more discrimination, but also will create some practical problems. It will also lack the desired interaction in the class.

 

Impact of Online Education

Calcutta University is large, catering to more than 20,000 students each year. It also has around 150 undergraduate colleges under its purview. While it is difficult to gauge the impact of the online classes in the institution so early, students of all subjects do not have the access to online connectivity, especially those staying in the rural areas. The practical classes in the lab-based subjects are also not being held online and mathematical papers are difficult to be instructed online. Hence, it can be said that the impact has not been very positive.

 

Effects on Research

Research has been affected in a negative way. While it is true that non-lab based research can be carried on through the students’ perseverance and the contact with the mentor through telephone calls or emails, but one-to-one correspondence, with face to face discussion has no substitute. In many cases, where secondary data are needed, the students cannot visit the sources like the institution itself, offices and libraries, as all data are not available online. Similarly, primary data collection has also stopped since visiting sources is forbidden, and hence research is severely hampered.  Mentorship improves only when there is face-to-face correspondence. In the lab-based subjects, research is totally stalled. Doctoral research has been hindered, both in primary and advanced stages.

Similarly, M.Phil research has also slowed down. This is a cause for concern since M.Phil is a time bound project. There is a negative effect on project work as well. Thus on the whole there has been an adverse effect on research at all the levels due to the coronavirus and COVID-19 pandemic, and the resulting lockdown effect on the economy.

 

Conclusion

It is safe to say that the present pandemic will not only affect the economy adversely, but it will also affect the education sector adversely in India. Already, one and a half months is lost. No one is sure how long it will take for the education sector to come out of the abnormal situation prevailing in the country at present. Moreover, education system is especially vulnerable since mass gathering cannot be avoided in our classrooms. Online classes are no substitutes for classroom lectures for a variety of reasons. The digital divide will only leads to discrimination and practical classes based on laboratories cannot be held online. Giving instructions for mathematical courses is also difficult online. The interaction between the teachers and the students is a crucial component of teaching and cannot be replicated in online classes. Research has been severely hampered due to the lockdown, and hence the sooner normalcy returns, the better.

 

Sudakshina Gupta is a Professor at the Department of Economics, University of Calcutta. Views expressed are personal.

 

This article is part of a series called New Directions in Higher Education in India after COVID-19. The remaining articles of the series can be found here.

Article Series: New Directions in Higher Education in India after COVID-19

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It has been just about two months since 11 March 2020 when the World Health Organisation declared COVID-19 to be a pandemic, about ten weeks since it was declared a public health emergency, and a little over four months since the disease was reported. This pandemic has, as we increasingly realize, the potential to change the entire world order. In some quarters this is already seen as a historical divide, BC (before Corona) and AC (after Corona).Across the globe educational systems at all levels have been seriously impacted even in this short span of time. The virus SARS-CoV-2 (and the diseases it causes, COVID-19) has affected all schools, colleges and universities. By mid-March mostly, these have all been shut: classes have been suspended, examinations, research work and virtually all laboratory experiments have been forced to hit the “pause button”. Students everywhere are in limbo, facing an uncertain present, and a more uncertain future.

Although the University Grants Commission and many universities have quickly decided to conduct classes and examinations online, its implementation in the country is not an easy task. Access to smartphones and the internet is still very limited. At the same time, it is undeniable that technology can play a big role in offering alternatives to regular academic activities, so one effect of this pandemic may well be to bring significant changes in the traditional education sector in regards with the use of technology as a tool for learning. How administrators and teachers respond to this difficult time will decide the future.

Every discipline faces distinct challenges when it comes to online learning. Courses which have always had a laboratory component will need a redesign. Compared to urban students, rural students might face more challenges when the traditional methods of learning give way to new pedagogic techniques. Education will have to adapt. The present discussion aims to explore these issues.

Now is as good a time as any to start thinking about these matters. Online classes have been thrust upon all sorts of institutions largely because there seem to be few options, but the experience so far has been very mixed. This discussion is therefore intended to gather the experiences and thoughts about the present and future of the education with regard to the pandemic, from academicians and non-academics cutting across disciplines and geographical boundaries.

 

Articles already published in this series:

  1. Post-COVID Higher Education – a perspective by Sandeep Sen
  2. The impact of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 on the education sector in India by Sudakshina Gupta
  3. COVID-19 and learning history by Marilyn Gracey Augustine
  4. COVID-19 risks deepening existing disparities in Indian Educational institutions by V Madhurima
  5. The COVID-19 pandemic and mathematics at JNU by Riddhi Shah
  6. The impact of COVID-19 on education at AMU by Qudsia Tahseen
  7. Experiential learning in India during the COVID-19 pandemic by K. Prahalad
  8. How COVID-19 has redefined education in India by Ambili Thomas
  9. Can simulated lab experiences replace real physics labs in a post-Covid India? by Vikrant Yadav and Asya Darbinyan
  10. The survival cost of higher education and the moral weight of our choices by Nithin Jacob Thomas
  11. Post COVID-19: a technology-driven era for higher education by Alok Srivastava
  12. After the pandemic: the precarious classroom by Usha Raman
  13. The choices before us: online or bust? by Sanat K Kumar
  14. ‘New’ directions in higher education in India after COVID-19? by Jyotsna Jha
  15. Education in the time of Corona: will the system withstand the chaos? by Ann Mary Jose
  16. Post-Corona Turmoil in Theological Education by Nitin S. Cherian
  17. Education made remote: concerns on digitally mediated education in pandemic times by Aarushie Sharma
  18. Can the pandemic catalyse efficient distant and distributed education in India? by Ram Ramaswamy
  19. Teaching through tragedy: How teachers can cope with the virtual classroom by Nawaz Sharif

 

Post-COVID Higher Education – a perspective

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After deliberating for a couple of weeks, the government decided to bite the bullet in mid-March and directed the closure of all educational institutions till further notice. This also implied that the ongoing Board exams were suspended indefinitely, as were other competitive examinations, plunging an generation of students into a vortex of uncertainty. Most universities were caught unprepared although the faculty in the universities could see it coming sooner than later. The public universities packed off the students and closed their shutters pending the next directive from the government. Some of the new generation Private Universities sensed an opportunity to prove their mettle and instructed its faculty to switch to an online mode that were adopted by many US universities only a few weeks before.

 

Online instruction is dependent of two crucial components – availability of a versatile collaborative software platform and connectivity from both sides – the instructor and the learner. This is often not understood and too much importance is attached to the sophistication of the platform which often resembles the cockpit of a modern aircraft. Initial experience with this medium can be compared to the Bundesliga matches that resumed recently in empty stadiums. Public universities have a large number of students who do not have access to fast communication networks – this could vary between 20 to 30 percent whereas the demographic profile of a private university is believed to be between 5 to 7 percent. Therefore, even if the university is perfectly capable of delivering online instruction, they would still have to be sensitive to the fact that it may not be fair to a significant fraction of the students who may not have the necessary resources from their end.

 

Distance education started in India in mid 80s pioneered by the setting up of IGNOU. One only needs to visit their website that boasts of such core values like flexibility, openness, affordability, inclusiveness, and the promise of life-long learning. This model has been emulated by many other universities in India to reach out to larger and more diverse student population. However, it is debatable whether they have been able to match the standards of standard in-class education. Moreover, the distance education mode also relied heavily on availability of in-class infrastructure and connected many part-time teachers with part-time learners. Online education was an evolutionary leap in the same direction that has come up in a big way with the emergence of big players like Coursera and EdX and now BYJU’s which is targeting school-children. Even Khan Academy, that resembles a very conventional chalk and board classroom, is thriving because of the online mode.

 

Mainstream university education has flourished under the premise that there is no substitute for the ambience of the university campus and live learning with peers in the classroom and has been able to maintain an exclusivity till now. The mainspring of the intellectual inspiration is said to flow from the bustling quads and the umpteen brain-storming sessions in the cafeterias. At best, they would let some of the more popular subjects be taught using these outreach platforms which mainly contributed to building their brand value for the in-campus experience.

 

As universities closed down almost overnight, the faculty and the administration were scrambling to put together some methodology to keep the semester going, online became the only recourse and all the hesitations were cast aside in a hurry. The initial weeks were arduous and onerous from both sides – the teachers and the students. Many instructors who prefer teaching using power-point slides, found this transition easier to handle. Others preferred collaborative platforms like MS-Teams (formerly Skype Professional) or Zoom and many others that were mostly used as video chatrooms for both social and professional purposes. Others found tablets a good substitute for the blackboard, so much so that the sellers ran out of stock in no time. In all this, the internet has been put under tremendous pressure to provide the necessary bandwidth and much to the credit of its architects, it has withstood this test.

 

The inhibition surrounding these platforms may now disappear – although necessity is the mother of invention, commercial motivation is also a powerful driver. Indeed, there is now a strong lobby emerging that is advocating online instruction as a solution to many issues that traditional education is unable to address. The rationale is very similar to the benefits of distance education with the added advantage of technology providing easier solutions that didn’t exist a decade ago. So, what seemed like a force majeure in the aftermath of COVID-19, may actually become a post-Covid alternative and challenge the sacred cows of the (increasingly expensive) university education. There is also a realistic possibility that the post-Covid education may continue to gain momentum in an online mode, even after Corona has been vanquished! The remaining article would try to examine this scenario which the author feels is a very plausible one and could become a watershed in not only a pedagogical transformation but the very definition of education.

 

The following questions will be repeatedly asked in the coming months and years:

 

  • What is the efficacy of the online versus traditional modes of delivering education?

This will be difficult to answer as the requirements may adapt to the new paradigm. However, what will certainly require thinking out of the box is a new model of testing and grading. Learning and testing are intertwined intricately in the contemporary delivery of education. Often the challenges of testing and evaluation are more complex as they are harder to scale in the traditional models. While an online model will shift the onus of learning onto the learner, testing will have to be conducted in a secure and trusted mode that requires strict invigilation. Even in the distance education mode, elaborate arrangements have to be made for conducting a traditional physical examination. If this cannot be avoided, then the online mode cannot truly take it to a new level. Despite the availability of some tools like Mettl, Examity, Respondus, there is still a lot of apprehension about the reliability of these technologies.

One radical step could be to delink learning and testing, wherein online instruction will only focus on the former. The testing can be conducted by the organization according to their requirements for selection. For quite a while, the entry barriers to the next destination are considered much harder than the grades that one earns in the university which is only used as a preliminary filter. So this filter can become less rigorous, without seriously affecting the process of selection at the next destination. The self-certification tests conducted without the traditional support of physical proctoring can become a basis for a Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory grade which is what most universities have decided to adopt for the current semester. This could become the new norm which would actually bring relief to teachers and students alike.

 

  • Has traditional liberal arts education championed by the Humboldtian model kept up with the needs of the 21st century?

There is already a significant discourse available on this topic emerging out of debates on globalization and a utilitarian view of education. With the objectives of education more closely aligned with job- seekers, does one really need to go through a broad-based college education for 3-4 years? In this regard, the role of the IT industry cannot be overlooked. The IT boom starting from the late 80s, redefined the preparedness for jobs and many Indian IT giants like TCS, Infosys and NIIT took the lead in short-cutting the rigorous university education and used in-house ad hoc training programs to churn out trained manpower like no other country. In retrospect, this was achieved through a clever combination of techno-management skills that did not require a full-fledged college education and certainly within a fraction of the cost. It may be emphasized that the cost of education is not just what a student pays but also the subsidy provided by the public universities.

To cut a long story short, online instruction can be made more flexible to meet such needs which raises the next concern and is already touted as a game-changer.

 

  • Would 21st education break away from the traditional constraints of time and space?

A university education demands that its seekers spend a certain time in a certain location and it is considered an aberration if there are gaps in the contiguity. It makes intense demands in terms of continuity and focus which is not easy for many and often beyond one’s control. The curriculum is also designed in a way that it discourages long breaks although many universities allow students to return. In contrast, the online instruction paradigm, going by the recent developments pioneered by the Coursera model, makes it a lot easier on the learner by chopping down a semester into modules and morsels which are typically of 10 hours duration coupled with online testing. In essence, it is chopping the eight semesters of education having typically 120-140 credits into smaller fragments, where a learner can choose his/her own pace. Moreover, theoretically one can be on the move, and connect seamlessly from anywhere in the world ! Although it sounds incredibly alluring, there are some important points that we must ponder on before we jump in.

  1. How different are the outcomes of the fragmented learning from the compact education?
  2. Are the differences significant enough, not to take this leap or it is primarily for those who cannot afford it – both in terms of cost and other constraints?
  3. Which disciplines are more amenable to the new paradigm? A short answer is STEM subjects require closer interaction with the instructors and laboratory facilities.

 

  • Will traditional universities survive?

One possibility is that every university will be forced have a hybrid model? In that case, education could become the monopoly of a few hundred chosen organizations? Seemingly the online mode will allow a university (service provider) to reach out to orders of magnitude more pupils than is currently possible thereby justifying fewer institutions. This phenomena can lead to the Corporatization of Higher education. Although the Corporate-Managerial style of administration has been increasingly adopted in Universities, there is still an appreciable difference in the cultures. However, online instruction will require delivery models that are beyond the scope of academicians and consequently, it will only accelerate the metamorphosis.

How would the life of a university Professor change? In the current dispensation, teaching often takes a back-seat (especially for under-graduates) and many leading universities protect their elite faculty by hiring temporary instructors. Since online instruction is more intense and requires more effort in their delivery, universities may be forced to completely separate tracks for research and teaching. This could change the nature of university education beyond recognition and eventually branch out into two distinct streams – one that prepares students for industry and the other for a career in academics and research. While the former can be more easily delivered online, the latter will continue in the traditional mode but for a much smaller group of students. Clearly, the graduate programs will survive in the traditional style and there will be less demand for Professional Master’s students as they will get upgraded through the online certification programs at a much lower cost.

 

  • If Higher Education undergoes this change, will School education be left behind?

The bottom-line is the acute crisis of good teachers and youngsters opting for such a career. That is where online instruction enjoys a huge edge – the teacher-student ratio is not of consequence and it is the self-learning that will become the key. Content is no longer a challenge in the Internet era and even traditional teachers take help from knowledge platforms like Wikipedia.

In the coming months we are likely to see an increasing clamour from the business world to promote online instruction beyond the COVID crisis. It appears to be natural fit for the needs of the Business and Management Schools, Executive education and short-term re-training programs that the Industry has been advocating for in the last decade. It can be opined that the Industry will play a leading role in the post-COVID education framework.

 

I would like to conclude with a simple observation about the likely impact of these developments in our country – India never managed develop any credible education system barring a a dozen exceptional institutions. There are many reasons for this but it will be futile to delve into those as there are no easy fixes and most pundits are not optimistic that there can be any. However, there is a clear redemption in the new paradigm and India is likely to adopt it faster than many countries given its recent fascination for techno-determinism.

 

Sandeep Sen is a Professor of Computer Science and Director, School of Engineering at Shiv Nadar University, Greater Noida. He is currently on lien from IIT, Delhi. Views expressed are personal.

 

This article is part of a series called New Directions in Higher Education in India after COVID-19. The remaining articles of the series can be found here.

Dark Spots of Modern Technologies : A Futuristic Perspective

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These days often we hear the phrase “With great power comes great responsibility”. It sounds cheesy and superheroistic, but I think the time has come for us to actually take these words seriously and act accordingly. Standing in this era of modern science and technology, I feel fortunate to see the world as it steps into a new realm of modernization, reaching towards superheroistic capabilities. Nevertheless, we should also give a thought to the “what if”s that might pop up in a pessimistic mind. What if something goes wrong? What if the good guy becomes the bad guy? To put these questions into perspective, in this article I will touch upon a few promising upcoming technologies outlining their darker sides for our future and the role of the scientific community to ensure safety.

 

  1. Artificial Intelligence :

Do you love robots? Or do you fear them? Popular sci-fi movies like The Terminator, showed us that robots can be powerful and also lethal at the same time. But when we talk about robots in real life, we might think that they will never be as smart as us. Isn’t there a ‘power off’ button at the back of every robot so that we can just turn them off when they go out of control? Naively speaking, the answer is yes. We can control the robots that we make to some extent, but what if they learn to disable the ‘power off’ button? Believe me, the concern is real, if not imminent. Companies like Google, Facebook and IBM have poured in enormous resources over the years to develop robust machine learning algorithms that can solve real life problems beyond the abilities of traditional algorithms. An example of such a problem is a basic classification problem where a computer needs to detect whether someone appears in a picture or not. In 1997 IBM’s chess engine Deep Blue defeated Gary Kasparov, the best human chess player at that time. In 2016, another engine AlphaGo defeated the best human player in the board game called Go, which requires much more intuition, strategy and creative thinking than chess. These events laid the foundation of showcasing the power of artificial intelligence in the context of human developments.

 

The most fascinating part of machine learning algorithms is that no one knows how it works exactly. It is like a bunch of connected neurons in the human brain. Just like every day you learn something new, more and more new connections form in your brain and other connections get deleted, the algorithm also creates and deletes nodes in its network based on its performance with respect to a certain task. In this way, it can be trained. But all these efforts were targeted at solving only a particular kind of problem like for example a chess engine only learns to play chess and cannot detect a human face. So the question arises, whether algorithms can be built that can perform any random task provided to them? Not yet, but efforts are being made to develop algorithms that learns to learn [1]! So what if it learns to not obey our orders? Or what if it learns to prank the user? We will have to see. Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk said in an interview, “I do think we need to be very careful about the advancement of artificial intelligence.”

 

Another interesting question that we can ask is, can machines develop consciousness? But understanding consciousness itself is a bit tricky. Scientists believe the nature of correlations between different parts of a brain gives rise to consciousness. Recent efforts in studies of correlations in a hallucinating brain are providing key insights in this area [2]. But the answer to the hard problem of consciousness, or the origin of the first-person perspective of our life experience is still unknown. However, with the evolution of the structures in an algorithm just like a natural evolution in the biological world, it might be possible to realize a machine with consciousness [3].

 

To summarize, we are not very far from that day when machines will be able to learn any new given task faster than human beings. Also, with growing research in neuroscience and the understanding of consciousness, we might be able to develop conscious machines in the near future. Thus it is very important to organize and implement research ethics to ensure that the acquired technologies could be used effectively and controllably.

 

  1. Quantum Technology :

Quantum computers are the future of classical computers and it is true that quantum computers will revolutionize our society and our understanding of nature. The basic difference between a classical (a mobile phone or a laptop) and a quantum computer stems from the fact that classical computers work with information encoded in bits which can take values 0 or 1, while on the other hand quantum computers can access all the intermediate values from 0 to 1. This is because quantum particles, like electrons remain in a so-called superposition state where they have certain probabilities of carrying the information 0 and certain probabilities of carrying the information 1. Without further delving into the details, let us see what kind of benefits we can reap out of quantum technologies.

 

Quantum computers can be used to solve certain kinds of problems like factorization of a large number, exponentially faster than classical computers [4]. This is important because most online security protocols, like encryption of password of your Facebook account, uses factorization of large numbers, and it would take thousands of years for classical computers to factorize such large numbers and break the encryption. With the advent of quantum computers, that might not be the scenario anymore. Quantum computers are way faster than classical computers with respect to solving these kinds of problems. Hence it can pose online security challenges. But there is a silver lining to this problem. In fact if communication channels can be protected using quantum security protocols like quantum key distribution systems [5], it would be almost impossible for an eavesdropper to breach the privacy of the channel. This technology arises from a phenomenon known as quantum entanglement. It says when two quantum particles are entangled quantum mechanically, then measuring the state of one of the particles fixes the state of the other particle. This is true even if the two particles are far apart in space. Quantum entanglement can also be used to develop high precision quantum radars that can track enemy aircrafts in an airspace using entangled photons, leading to ultimate precision in detection [6]. This is a bad news for countries that poured in huge sums to develop aircrafts that are almost invisible to traditional radar systems. It would be a new challenge to defeat quantum radars.

 

Whatever we discussed so far about quantum technologies do not pose a big threat to human civilization. But, there is another avenue of application of quantum computers. That is biology. Big pharma companies like Silicon Therapeutics and Pharmacelera are looking into these approaches to use quantum computers and artificial intelligence, to simulate large and complex molecules, that cannot be simulated on a classical computer. This might lead to the development of better and more potent drug molecules and enable us to tackle a wide range of health care problems [7]. If successful, it might lead to a steep inrease in the global average life expectancy. Thus in the future, population inundation might become an issue unless measures are taken to check it. Also, if these technologies fall in the wrong hands, the effects can be devastating. Using quantum simulations and artificial intelligence, it might be possible to design viruses which can have mutation abilities that can be hard to defeat. It can develop into a serious threat with apocalyptic potential.

 

With several countries pouring in funds for the development of quantum technologies, the key take-away of the above discussion is that these technologies are powerful and can change our world, but we should also be aware of the consequences of misuse and thus lay proper procedures and guidelines to prevent future mishaps.

 

  1. Nuclear Technology :

With the rise of populist forces around the globe, the need for developing a powerful defense infrastructure is soaring. As we move into the future, probably more and more nations will try to harness nuclear capabilities for combat. Although a nuclear powered state can enjoy an additional sense of security and pride, with more and more members joining the nuclear club, this extra bit will soon erode out. Moreover emergence of nuclear powered rogue states can significantly damage global peace through threats of nuclear attacks and in the worst case can lead to nuclear warfare.

 

Another big challenge for any kind of nuclear technology is nuclear waste management. Irresponsible handling of radioactive waste can lead to serious radioactive contamination. It is very hard to control such contamination if it reaches natural circulatory networks like a river system. This can snowball into severe disruption of biodiversity and ecosystems. An example of how such events might be triggered was the failed covert operation of 1965 conducted by US’s Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and India’s Intelligence Bureau (IB). In this mission, the Indian and American agencies planned to plant a nuclear-powered sensor at the summit of mount Nanda Devi (7815 m), a Himalayan mountain peak overlooking China. The objective of this mission was to monitor China’s nuclear activity using the sensor. Among other things, the setup also contained seven Plutonium capsules required to power the instrument’s battery. But carrying these heavy equipment (weighing around 50 Kg) through such mountainous terrain was not easy. During the uphill journey, the crew was met with hazardous climatic conditions and were forced to leave the cargo midway at Camp IV (7300 m). The next day when they came back to look for it, they could not find it. It was never found since then despite several search missions undertaken by the Indian government. Now, if the nuclear capsules which are somewhere buried in the snow, start leaking out radiation, then it can cause nuclear contamination in the waters of Rishi Ganga, a tributary of river Ganga, that originates from this mountain. Luckily traces of such contamination has not yet been found in the waters of the surrounding region and some experts opine of nonexistence of fatal risks [8].

 

Hence the bottomline here is that, in order to prevent such circumstances from arising, strict regulations should be imposed based on the ethics and responsibilities of using nuclear technology and needless to say, the scientific community should play a strong and univocal role to empower this initiative.

 

  1. Concluding Remarks :

When a historian of a future time (say 2100) starts writing the history of today’s world, s/he will definitely have a lot of content and excitement in describing today’s world. The amazing things that are being developed today are paving the way for a new epoch of science and technology. But if we do not take care of the existing loopholes in our systems today, there is a possibility that that historian will never exist; as our civilization might cease to be.

 

Enough of pessimism! Let us hope for the best and prepare for the worst.

 

References :

[1] Duan, Yan, et al. “Rl2: Fast reinforcement learning via slow reinforcement learning.” arXiv preprint arXiv:1611.02779 (2016).

[2] Schartner, Michael M., et al. “Increased spontaneous MEG signal diversity for psychoactive doses of ketamine, LSD and psilocybin.” Scientific reports 7 (2017): 46421.

[3] Koch, Christof, and Giulio Tononi. “Can machines be conscious?.” Ieee Spectrum 45.6 (2008): 55-59.

[4] Shor, Peter W. “Algorithms for quantum computation: discrete logarithms and factoring.” Proceedings 35th annual symposium on foundations of computer science. Ieee, 1994.

[5] Shenoy-Hejamadi, Akshata, Anirban Pathak, and Srikanth Radhakrishna. “Quantum cryptography: key distribution and beyond.” Quanta 6.1 (2017): 1-47.

[6] Barzanjeh, S., et al. “Experimental microwave quantum illumination.” arXiv preprint arXiv:1908.03058 (2019).

[7] Peters, Martin B., Kaushik Raha, and K. M. Merz. “Quantum mechanics in structure-based drug design.” Current Opinion in Drug Discovery and Development 9.3 (2006): 370.

[8] Broad, William J. “Himalayan Spy Device Said to Pose No Radiation Risk.” Science 204.4398 (1979): 1180-1180.

 

Debanuj Chatterjee is a PhD scholar of physics at ENS Paris-Saclay. Views expressed are personal. 

 

The Socratic Oath of An Academic

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THE HIPPOCRATIC AND SOCRATIC OATHS

 

The Hippocratic Oath embodies an ethical commitment of the community of medical doctors. There are many versions of the Oath, but they all share a core commitment: to treat the ill and prevent disease as best as one can, and to do no harm.

 

Equivalents of this oath can be found in other pursuits, such as Nobel Laureate Joseph Rotblat’s Hippocratic Oath for Scientists (1995). Among such equivalents are versions of the Socratic Oath for Teachers, articulating an ethical commitment of the community of educators.

 

In what follows, I will try to formulate a Socratic Oath of the Academic, as distinct from the Socratic Oath of the Teacher. What do I mean by this distinction?

 

The popular concept of an academic is that of someone employed to perform the functions of teaching (or research) in educational institutions: schools, colleges, universities, and institutes, and perhaps research organisations. My own definition is different:

 

An Academic is someone who is dedicated to contributing to the growth of Academic Knowledge.

Academic Knowledge is a collective body of rationally justified conclusions with varying degrees of certainty.

 

By this definition, teachers/educators are academics only if they contribute to the collective pool of academic knowledge. This definition of ‘Academic’ would include people like Plato the philosopher and the celebrated mathematician Ramanujam, though the popular definition of Academic in terms of employment would exclude them. Since I am currently not a paid employee of any institution, I do not count as an academic by the popular definition – but my given my own definition, I am an academic.

 

MY SOCRATIC OATH AS AN ACADEMIC

 

The term ‘Socratic oath of an academic’ is a confluence of the ethical commitments of an educator and an academic. Let me present two of the ‘vows’ of that oath.

 

The First Vow: The Value of Doubting and Questioning

 

The first vow in my oath stems from the concept of knowledge as a body of rationally justified conclusions that have reasonable certainty, but never total certainty. The classical concept of knowledge is based on the verb ‘know’, which sees knowledge as a proposition that the knower knows, and is a position trapped in total certainty beyond doubting and questioning. The uncertainty and fallibility of knowledge, articulated by scientists like Einstein and Feynman and mathematicians like Morris Kline, departs from the classical concept. If we accept the intellectual hygiene of the Buddha, Socrates, Einstein, Kline, Feynman, and so on, we must also accept the two consequences given below (articulated in terms of Democratic Education in “Education as Cognitive Liberation.”)

We must expect the learner as a critical inquirer to ask: “Why should I believe what teachers, and other authorities and traditions believe, or do what they do? I should examine the justification offered in support of these beliefs and practices, and decide for myself what to believe and what to do.”

Similarly, we must expect the educator as an Academic to pledge: “I have no right to decide what my students should believe and what they should do. I do have a responsibility to help them develop the capacity to decide for themselves what to believe and what to do. I also have a responsibility to familiarize them with the beliefs and practices of past and present communities.”

 

From this position comes my first vow:

Vow 1:  I will strive to help learners develop the capacity to doubt and question me, and others, as well as themselves, and where appropriate, to prove that we are wrong; and will not indoctrinate them with my own beliefs and practices.

 

If the communities of educators take this vow, it is possible that students would develop the spirit of inquiry in their own domains. A significant part of the curriculum would then need to aim at developing in learners the capacity to engage in transdisciplinary and discipline-specific inquiry and critical thinking (e.g., the ability to construct theories, to justify claims, and to evaluate claims).

 

A word about the distinction between the transdisciplinary and discipline-specific aspects of knowledge. A PhD student working on the social behaviour of fruitflies, for instance, would need to learn the techniques of transferring fruit flies from one jar to another, while a PhD student in astronomy would need to learn the techniques of using powerful telescopes. These abilities are discipline-specific. But the ability to design experiments to investigate a causal conjecture is not specific to any discipline: it is needed in all domains of physical, biological, and human sciences that lend themselves to experimentation. This is a trans-disciplinary ability.

 

Likewise, while the concepts of atomic structure, molecular structure, crystal structure, cell structure, skeletal structure, structure of an argument, structure of a poem, and structure of a dance performance are discipline-specific, the concept of structure itself is trans-disciplinary. So are the concepts of function, theory, model, framework, data, explanation, justification, evidence, reasoning, argumentation, correlation, causation, claim, and conclusion.

 

Examples of pedagogical tasks to promote trans-disciplinary inquiry abilities and the concepts that support those abilities are discussed in “Learning to Think like a Scientist and a Mathematician and a Scientist“; the INK Talk “Questioning Authority”; the IISER Bhopal Institute Lecture “Education to Enhance Academic Intelligence”; and “Enhancing Academic Intelligence : Nalanda Conversations” Part 1 and Part 2.

 

The Second Vow: The Choice of Educational Goals

 

The second vow in my Socratic Oath is derived from a principle in my educational philosophy:

What we teach must of value to the learners in their personal, public and/or professional domains throughout their lives.

 

The vow derived from this principle is easy to articulate:

Vow 2:  I will strive to help learners learn what will be of value to them in their personal, public, and professional lives after their formal education; and will not force them to learn what is unlikely to be of value for the future.

 

Vow 2 also has serious consequences to decisions on what we as educators include in our curriculum.

 

Unlike professional and occupational courses, undergraduate programs in mathematics, the sciences, and the humanities do not prepare students for specific careers. Only a small number of individuals who graduate from these programs proceed to higher studies and research in the particular subjects. For the majority, the programs are a path to a wide range of careers that have little to do with their subject major.

 

What is our responsibility to that majority?

 

Consider an undergraduate physics syllabus whose topics include Ohm’s law, Ampere’s law, dynamo, motor, and torque. Someone with such a degree, who does not go on to specialise in physics (e.g., an evolutionary biologist, diplomat, chef) does not need the information and calculating skills related to these topics. What they need, and could gain from the domain, is the ability to rigorously engage with ideas. So, instead, if a student of physics were to learn to discuss ideas like those in Einstein and Infeld’s Evolution of Physics, and transfer that ability to discuss ideas outside physics (e.g., ‘democracy’), my second vow will have seen some success.

 

Given our responsibility to the non-specialist students, ignoring issues of this kind in syllabus design would be unethical.

 

K P Mohanan is a Co-Founder of ThinQ (http://www.thinq.education/). He can be reached at his email: mohanan.kp@gmail.com. Views expressed are personal. 

Another Socratic Oath

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Intellectual Humility

 

To quote Richard Feynman:

“We have found it of paramount importance that in order to progress we must recognise our ignorance and leave room for doubt. Scientific knowledge is a body of statements of varying degrees of certainty — some most unsure, some nearly sure, but none absolutely certain.” (download .pdf)

The idea that scientific ‘knowledge’ lacks absolute certainty, and always leaves room for doubt, conflicts with the meaning of the English word ‘know’, forming a hurdle for the Socratic oath of an academic. When a teacher says:

“Rafa knows that the earth is round,”

what she means is:

“I believe, with complete certainty, that the earth is round, and Rafa shares my belief.”

 

The egocentricity of this position explains why we can say:

“I am convinced that the earth is round; Rafa is convinced that the earth is not round,”

but not:

“I know that the earth is round; Rafa knows that the earth is not round.”

 

The position is also arrogant, because it denies the possibility of being wrong. We can say:

“I am convinced that the earth is round, but I might be wrong,”

but not:

“I know that the earth is round, but I might be wrong.”

 

Countering the egocentrism and arrogance of the presupposition built into the verb ‘know’ lies at the core of my Socratic Oath. Let me formulate the vow that derives from the mindset of the intellectual humility that the Feynman quote expresses:

 

Vow 3: Intellectual humility

I will try my best to avoid the egocentrism and arrogance built into the English verb ‘know’. When I say, “I know that…,” it is a shorthand for “I am convinced that…, but I am aware that I might be wrong;” or “My current position, which I might abandon, is this.”

 

The Feynmanian commitment has two immediate consequences for my practice as an academic educator. First, it allows me the freedom to say, “I was wrong, you are right.” I am grateful for having achieved the emotional liberation, hence the courage, to say this to my students. Second, when a student asks me a question, it allows me the freedom to say, “I don’t know,” acknowledging my ignorance. (“Robert Sapolsky on Life and Free Will” is a role model for this aspect of intellectual humility.)

 

From Ignorance to Rationally Justified Belief

 

Research begins with a question. A research question is an articulation of what we do not know, but wish to find out. Hence, it needs to be clear about what we think we know, against the backdrop of our ignorance; and must choose a small area to investigate within that vast ocean of ignorance.

 

I take this awareness of my own personal ignorance and the ignorance of the academic community to my classroom. The vow that underlies this practice can be stated as follows:

 

Vow 4: Accepting fallibility and uncertainty

In every course I teach, I will try my best to articulate what we as an academic community don’t know, what we lack rational justification for, and what we are less certain of, such that it empowers my students to go beyond, challenge, and correct the knowledge transmitted by their elders.

 

For me, not communicating to students what Vow 4 promises to, and using words like ‘superstition’ and ‘irrational belief’ to refer to beliefs such as the following, is unethical:

“Some homeopathic medicines offer effective cures;” and

“There is a correlation between the time of one’s birth and the events in their life;”

The intellectual humility stemming from rational inquiry prompts a different expression, rooted in a different mindset:

“I reject the claim that homeopathic medicines offer effective cures, but I am willing to correct my position if I see evidence to show that they do cure human illnesses;” and

“I have not seen any evidence to support the hypothesis that there is a correlation between the time of one’s birth and the events in one’s life.”

 

Incorrect Answers and Misconceptions

 

The ethos of academic inquiry outlined above has further extensions. Statements like, “You are wrong,” “That answer is incorrect,” and “That is a misconception,” are common responses to students. Such responses come from a mismatch between what the teacher believes to be ‘true’, and what the learner says; and from a rejection of the learner’s position.

 

As an example, consider the following examination questions:

Can acquired characteristics be inherited?

What is fitness?

The school textbook says that acquired characteristics cannot be inherited; so if a student‘s answer to the first question is ‘yes’, it is likely to be marked ‘incorrect’, despite abundant evidence in science research against the textbook position.

 

Likewise, most textbooks define the concept of ‘fitness’ in terms of the number of offspring an organism leaves behind in comparison with another organism. (https://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/evo_27). If a student capable of inquiry and critical thinking were to reject the definition because it leads, for instance, to the conclusion that all unicellular organisms leave behind exactly two offspring and hence have the same fitness, and were to answer the question in terms of “the fit between the structure, function, and niche of an organism,” the answer is likely to be marked ‘wrong’.

 

Comments like: “You are wrong,” or “That answer is incorrect,” mean: “Your answer conflicts with my beliefs.” Given the ethos of academic inquiry, this too is egocentric intellectual arrogance. An alternative to these expressions would be: “I disagree with your answer, because…” or “Have you considered …?” Similar remarks apply to what is popular in the education literature as ‘misconceptions’. (For an example, see “Misconceptions our children have about Reading Comprehensions | Educational Initiatives.”)

 

That brings me to Vow 5:

 

Vow 5: Rationally justified answers      

I will try my best not to dismiss my students’ answers as ‘incorrect’ or as ‘misconceptions’. Instead, I will try to probe into their reasons for those answers, and engage with them as fellow inquirers.

 

A consequence of this commitment is that teachers cease to become authority figures, and transform themselves into experienced fellow inquirers. This results in an academic culture where teachers and students are co-learners in the journey. In a course or a workshop at the tertiary level, I expect to learn from my students. And I actively encourage them to challenge my positions, argue against them, and if possible, change my positions. I take the fulfilment of this expectation as my greatest success.

 

The Sanskrit Sloka, “Oṃ saha nāv avatu…” (from the kaTha upanishad) reminds both teacher and student to engage together in the process of learning, in harmony:

 

May we together be protected;

May we together be nourished;

May we work together with vigor,

May our study be illuminating.

May we be free from discord.

Oṃ Peace, Peace, Peace!

 

For me, this Shloka articulates the essence of academic inquiry in the teacher-student relationship, as learners strive together to make the world a better place!

 

Tara Mohanan is a Co-Founder of ThinQ (http://www.thinq.education/). She can be reached at tara.mohanan@gmail.com or tara@thinq.education. The views expressed are personal.